Trial of Murdered RIM Exec hears details of the attack.

A Research In Motion executive looked ‘confused’ and  unaware he had been left with a ‘big hole in his neck’ after he was fatally  bottled at a star-studded party headlined by Jessie J.

Lois Craze told the Old Bailey that she first  noticed the man approach the bar and next saw him trying to run away before  being tackled by another reveller.

She turned to the bar to see Mr Sheriff  standing there bleeding as people rushed to his aid.

She told the court she and her three friends  had decided to have one last drink before heading home to let the queue for the  cloakroom die down.

The group went into the bar just after  midnight after the lights came on following the Brit Award winner finishing her  set by the dance floor of the Pulse nightclub in Southwark, south  London.

As she stood ‘people watching’ while her  friends fetched drinks from the bar she she noticed a man coming towards the bar  on ‘a bit of a mission’.

She said: ‘

When he approached the bar I  turned away and the next moment I turned back all I saw was that man walking  very quickly away from the direction he came. Someone took him down to the  floor.

‘When I looked back this man at the bar  turned round and his neck was open and bleeding everywhere. He was facing me at  this point.

‘He was just standing there holding his neck and  staring in the direction to where the man went, confused and almost as if he did  not know what had happened to him. He was looking not angry or not even aware he  had been hurt.

Ashley Charles, 26, allegedly plunged the bottle into Philip Sheriff’s face and neck, severing his jugular vein and an artery.

Shortly after Jessie had left the stage at the exclusive VIP event, Charles squeezed past Mr Sheriff and a woman and words were exchanged, it was said.

Charles allegedly became “annoyed and irritated” before trying to snatch a phone from Mr Sheriff’s hand just after midnight.

The jury heard that Charles grabbed the bottle – which was then broken somehow – and dealt the fatal blow.

Witness Lois Craze burst into tears today as she told how she saw dad-of-two Mr Sheriff in complete confusion as he began bleeding to death.

Ms Craze said:

“His neck was open and bleeding everywhere. He was facing me at this point.  “He was just standing there holding his neck and staring in the direction to where the man [his attacker] went, confused and almost as if he did not know what had happened to him.

“He was looking not angry or not even aware he had been hurt.

“There was a big hole in his neck on the left and there was blood everywhere.

“It was coming out very quickly and covered his suit jacket.

“His friend I guess who was at the bar looked over and saw what happened and noticed the blood and straight away put his fingers on it.“He held him up at the bar and tried to stabilise him.”

She added that before the attack she saw a man coming towards the bar on a “bit of a mission”.

Ms Craze said she later saw the man trying to run away before being brought to the ground by another partygoer.

The court heard that after the fatal blow Charles was grabbed by bouncers and said:

“Is he OK? I wish I had not done that.”

Charles told police: “Yeah, I know I bottled him. I did not mean to harm him, I am sorry.”

He added: “He kept pushing past me throughout the bar area. I felt intimidated so I lashed out.”

Prosecutor Duncan Penny told the Old Bailey:

“A witness heard an argument between the defendant and Mr Sheriff which appeared to be related to the phone.

“CCTV showed the defendant twice lunge towards Mr Sheriff’s phone but he was not successful. The fatal attack occurred seconds after.

“The defendant took Mr Sheriff’s bottle of beer from his right hand.

“The defendant’s hand moves out of camera shot before it came back into shot. He lunged at the left side of Mr Sheriff’s neck.

“Witnesses describe seeing the blow as a swipe or slash. Undoubtedly it all happened very quickly indeed.

“Perhaps no more than a second. One second to take a life.”

Mr Sheriff, of Preston, Lancashire, worked for RIM which sponsored the gig in April at the Pulse club in Southwark, South London.

After the attack, the industry paid homage to Mr. Sheriff.

Ashley Charles, 26, of Leicester, denies murdering Philip  Sheriff in April this year. The trial continues and is expected to last two weeks.